22 April 2011

Fait Maison Granola

It's great any time of the day, and even better road-trip food. This granola recipe is adapted from one we made in HUGE batches at the guest ranch I worked at summers when I was in high school and going to university. That guest ranch kitchen was also instrumental to my personal development and interest in how to merge homemade with gourmet in a simple, accessible, and sustainable manner.

Meanwhile, mix dry ingredients thoroughly - except raisins. Don't add those until granola has been baked, or they'll be as hard as stones.

Pour hot liquid over dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Cover a baking sheet or pizza pan with parchment paper - - use something with a lip, to prevent granola from sliding off while in oven.

Transfer granola mixture to parchment paper.

Bake for 1 hr-1.25 hours, stirring every 15 minutes.

Allow granola to cool, then transfer granola to storage container, and mix in raisins.

Discard/recycle parchment paper.

NOTES

USE PARCHMENT PAPER - Don't cook directly on a baking dish unless you have no other alternative. When it cools, the honey/molasses mix hardens and you'll have to pry and scrape the granola off the dish. I've done it - trust me, it's miserable.

USE WALNUTS - unless you're allergic to them, that is. They become somewhat candied and toasted while baking. I have to stop myself from selectively nibbling them while putting the granola away!

Use a mix of different kinds of nuts and seeds for increased flavor, texture, and nutritional diversity.

Experiment with other fruits, but remember to add them after baking.

Experiment with different ingredients, but maintain the same ratios (1-2 C. nuts, 4 C. oats, etc.) so your granola is well balanced, and the liquid ratio is correct.

Granola keeps well for a couple of weeks (or more) in a cupboard. Ours doesn't usually last long, so we haven't tested the upper limits of "shelf life" yet.

The recipe from the ranch includes 1 C. of wheat germ, which would be great nutritionally. But, I haven't found it here - or, I can't recognize it when I'm looking at the package in French! If anyone knows a good source for wheat germ, or what the name is in French, please let me know.